This AAR was specifically written for those that are new to Conflict of Heroes (CoH) in mind and assumes the reader has very little or no knowledge of the CoH system. Those more familiar with CoH may find this AAR too simplistic, although it will undoubtedly serve to reveal things that are relevant to all players. Matrix Games CoH mirrors the original boardgame almost to the last detail while adding things never available before such as optional Fog of War (FoW), User Generated Battles, Online Play and, of course, Automatic Bookkeeping. Keep in mind that the version I am playing in this AAR is Beta and its components may not be final.

I'll be playing the Partisans scenario as the Germans. Partisans is the smallest scenario released with the game and takes about 20 minutes to play in single player mode and slightly longer in multi-player. For sake of clarity I'll be playing with Fog of War turned off and, as an option, I'll be using counters instead of sprites. I've played this scenario many times and have always thought the Germans to be a tad stronger than the Soviets, and with the FoW turned off, I fully expect to win. The scenario briefing states that both sides will be fighting for a single Victory Hex and that both sides will be getting reinforcements. The Soviets will gain additional Rifle Squads on round 2 and the Germans will receive a Pioneer Squad on round 3.

Located on the bottom left of the Startup Screen is the Firefight Map. This map is for informational purposes only and displays things such as the terrain, Victory Hexes, and initial unit placements as well as where reinforcements will come into play and on which turn. The German Player can place their units anywhere in the white area shown on the left of the map once play begins. Soviet units will begin the game in the red areas shown. Reinforcements will arrive on the turns noted and the units will be placed in the reinforcement area prior to resolving that turn. Once again, the player may place reinforcement units in any hex within the designated area. You can access the Firefight Map at any time in-game by clicking the appropriate button in the toolbar.

My forces consist of 2 Light Machine Gun (LMG) units on the flanks while 2 Rifle Squads take the middle. The A.I. has under its command 1 Maxim MG Unit (left side) and 3 Soviet Rifle Squads. The clocks at the top of the screen reflect that there are 5 turns to this scenario and, as the game progresses, these clocks will be faded out to show turns already past. The toolbar on the left shows that the German player has 8 Command Action Points (CAP's) and has been dealt 2 Action Cards. More on these later. The buttons in the toolbar on the right side allow you to change various in game settings and also to save/load games. Hovering the cursor over the buttons gives a tooltip describing its function.

My plan for victory is as follows; Move the LMG's on the flanks into the Light Woods hexes shown(Yellow Diamonds) to be used as suppressing fire while my 2 rifle squads move out of Line of Sight(LoS) of the enemy and into the Woods hexes shown (Red Diamonds). From these positions I plan to make a push to the Victory Hex.

A Game Turn in CoH consists of a varying number of Player Turns (turns) in which one player will perform an action or pass. As soon as the action or pass is made, play moves to the opponent who will now perform an action or pass.

Example; Player 1 moves to an adjacent hex / Player 2 attacks Player 1 and misses / Player 1 attacks Player 2 and hits / Player 2 attempts a rally etc.

The Game Turn ends whenever both players pass consecutively at which point the game moves on to the next Game Turn where initiative is again determined. All actions a unit undertakes, whether it be a Move, Attack, Rally, Hasty Defense etc., have a cost in Action Points (AP's). AP's are spent whenever the player ATTEMPTS an action and are deducted from the unit's total for the turn. AP's may not be saved from previous Game Turn's. At he beginning of all new Game Turns AP's are restored to their max level(7 for this scenario). Balancing how these AP's are spent is one of the most important aspects of CoH.

Before beginning play let's cover the Unit Info Panel. We see that the unit highlighted is the LMG 34 Squad-# 2 which is of Regular quality. The icons and values below this squad's designation are as follows, from left to right;

* AP's Remaining- Ap's are deducted from this total and are replenished each turn * Firepower:Soft- Added to die roll when attacking unarmored targets (Red defense rating) * Firepower:Armor- Added to die roll when attacking armored targets (Blue defense rating) * AP Cost to fire- Amount deducted from AP's remaining each time you attempt an attack * Range- Distance in hexes a unit may fire without suffering a penalty * Forward defense rating: Either blue (armored) or red (soft) * Flank defense rating: Either blue (armored) or red (soft) * AP cost to move- The amount of AP's needed to move into clear terrain * Bonus moves- Certain units get a bonus move when moving Note: Units whose Firepower values are on a white background suffer a -2 Penalty in close combat

My first action is to move the LMG #2 unit forward into the light woods. When a unit is activated all eligible hexes that it may move to this turn are highlighted blue. To move, the player right-clicks in the hex he wants to move to. When moving, units can assume any facing they choose in the target hex at no additional cost. Simply move your cursor to the hexside you would like your unit to face before right-clicking to finish the move. A yellow arrow will show the path of the moving unit(see above). Moving a unit into Light Woods does not cost a foot unit any more AP's than moving it into open ground even though units in Light Woods receive a +1 defensive modifier bonus for all attacks upon it. This number is added to the defenders defense rating. Had they been regular Woods, the move would cost an additional 1 AP for a total of 2. The number floating above the units are its current AP's remaining and the number floating in the eligible hex show how many AP's the unit will have if it does move there. In our example the MMG starts with 7 AP's and after moving into the Light Woods it would have 6 AP's remaining.

The screenshot above reveals that I moved the LMG 34 # 2 into the Light Woods for my turn and that the A.I. has moved his Maxim MMG one hex to its left and into the Woods. Units in a Woods hex gain a powerful +2 defensive modifier bonus . The lighter shaded hexes show the units LoS. Certain terrain features such as woods and buildings block LoS in hexes beyond the obstructing hex but never into them. For example, my LMG has a clear LoS to the Soviet Maxim MMG in the woods but not to the hexes to its rear. Units do not have LoS on its flanks or rear and units in the same hex as an enemy do not have LoS beyond the shared hex. By looking at My LMG's Unit Info Panel we can see that it only cost me 2 AP's to attack. This reflects the LMG's high rate of fire. In contrast a Soviet Rifle Squad must spend 4 AP's to fire at an enemy. The LMG also has a fairly high Firepower value (4) when attacking non armored targets. Although abstracted in game, one can assume a higher firepower value represents superior training and/or leadership or even better equipment. I choose to attack the MMG in the Woods hex.

Attacks are resolved as follows; The attacking player adds his Firepower value, and any bonuses he might have, to the results of a 2d6 dice roll (two six-sided dice). If this number is equal to or higher than the defenders defense value he scores a hit and the defending unit is marked as damaged. If the final number is 4 or more greater than the modified defense rating the defender is instead destroyed. The game engine automatically takes into account every modifier in use for the attack and gives both a percentage of success and the dice roll needed. (displayed under the Game Turn Clocks). In this case I need to roll a 10 or better. You don't need to do the math because the game does it for you. If you did want to know how to determine what you would need to roll you would simply subtract the modified Firepower from the modified Defense Value. In our case the formula would be; 12 (Defense Value) +2 (Woods Bonus) = 14 - 4 (Firepower) = 10

I rolled an 8 (miss) so there was no effect on the Soviet Maxim. The A.I. then chose to attack me on its turn and also missed with a 3. Note that the on-screen display of dice can be turned on or off in the game options. That was a long explanation for what was 4 player turns, 2 each. I moved into the light woods. Soviet MMG moved into woods. I fired and missed. The MMG fired at me and missed. In real time the whole of that exchange lasted no more than 15 seconds. So while much is going on, the pace is fast and fluid. Of course one could play at any speed they want because the rate of turns changing hands is dictated on how fast you prefer to play. On my turn I attack again with the 16% chance of hitting (10) and miss. That leaves my LMG with 2 AP's remaining. My fire has been more depressing than suppressing. The Soviet MMG is making it hard to hit while it occupies the Woods hex. This is where CAP's come into play.

CAP's represent the influence of commanders on the battlefield. Players receive a certain amount of CAP's each Game Turn depending on the scenario. Your CAP's remaining is displayed in the upper left of your screen. CAP's can be converted to AP's and transferred to active units on a 1 to 1 basis by clicking on the button with the arrow pointing at a yellow diamond . For example, if you have 5 CAP's remaining you can give your active unit up to 5 additional AP's to be used as you choose. Like AP's, CAP's are replenished at the beginning of the next Game Turn and may not be saved for later. A player’s CAP allotment decreases by 1 from the base amount for every unit destroyed in a firefight, per side. (For example, if you have had two of your units destroyed, then you receive two fewer CAPs at the start of each round.)

Not only can CAP's be converted to AP's, you can also use them to get a bonus on your Dice Rolls, up to a +2 bonus for the cost of 2 CAP's. To do so just click the button with the arrow over the die icon under the CAP's remaining header. These bonuses can be used for both Attack and Rally. If you want to cancel the CAP's bonuses simply click the last icon with an arrow under the die and they will be returned to the pool.

CAP's are one of the most important aspects of the game. Managing them correctly and using them wisely can many times be the difference between victory and defeat. Do you use them now or save them for use later? Should you spend them on increasing your firefight rolls are use them to help a damaged unit with a rally attempt?

So I have chosen to use 2 CAP's to influence my attack roll by +2 against the elusive Maxim MMG . Instead of having a 16% chance to hit by rolling a 10, my chances have increased a bit to 41% and needing an 8. My Attack Roll is a 9 which is further modified by +6 (+4 Firepower,+2 CAP's bonus) for a 15 which is higher than than the Maxims 14 modified Defense Rating( 12 base, +2 Woods). I've scored a hit and have damaged the MMG. A HIT MARKER is placed on the enemy counter showing the players that the unit now damaged.

There are a variety of different effects of being damaged. The most important being that if a damaged unit gets hit again in combat it is immediately eliminated from play and its opponent will gain victory points. In addition, damaged units have their stats affected depending on what state their unit is in as the result of becoming damaged.

For example, a PINNED unit cannot move(even pivot) and its Rally number is 7, or the more severe result COWERING which cost the unit +2 AP to fire, +1 AP to move, Range drops to 1 and needs an 8 to Rally.

The type of Hit Counter received is random and a unit remains in this damaged state until it is either eliminated or the unit Rallies. The effects of the Hit are displayed in the Unit Info Panel.

A unit may attempt a Rally by spending 5 AP's. The player must roll equal to or higher than the Rally value . CAP's can modify the roll. Players may attempt to rally as many times as they can afford during a turn as long as it has enough AP's of Action Cards to do so.

I spend 1 more CAP to move the LMG into the light woods to my front so that I will gain a wider field of fire. I am now going to move the LMG on my right flank 5 spaces forward and into the Light Woods there to cover the enemy approach from that side. As I am doing this a Soviet Rifle Squad advances on the Victory Hex to deny me at this point. I decide to fire at this unit with the now moved LMG but I miss. The screen below shows the positions at this point in the Game Turn.

Because play switches back and forth between players the enemy can cover just as much ground as my single unit. I moved a space and then they moved a space etc. A good way to move units more effectively is to move them with a Group Move. As long as all units (no maximum) are adjacent one another in the selected group they may perform a Group Move. To make a group move click a unit as normal. Then hold the shift button and select another adjacent unit to highlight it, in effect putting that unit into a group move. Continue doing this until all the units you want to be in your group are chosen. Your active unit will be displayed with a yellow-dashed circle around it while those in your current group will have a red-dashed circle.Those units already moved in your group will be encircled in white. Now you may move your group, one after the other, until all of the units in that group take an action at which point it will then become the other players turn. This allows players grouped together to cover more ground in less turns than if they were moving separately. AP's are deducted from each moving unit with the whole group using whichever unit has the highest movement cost.

For example; A MMG and a Rifle Squad group move would cost them both 2 AP's to move into a clear hex.

I will be moving this group as far as I can towards the Victory Hex. With that done I spend 2 more CAP's to move one of my rifle squads forward one more hex into Woods. That leaves just 3 CAP's left which I use to have my 1st LMG try to fire at the damaged MMG on the left flank (2 CAP's Firepower Cost plus 1 CAP to gain a +1 Bonus) The chance of success is 27% and I need to roll a 9. Not great odds, but even a long-shot is better than not spending all of your CAP's most of the times. Roll = 7 missed. With all of my units moved and all CAP's spent I press the pass button (Right-arrow on the bottom toolbar). The AI also passes thereby ending Game Turn 1.

Game Turn 2 begins with the enemy receiving their reinforcements as four Rifle Squads enter the map on the far side. Things just got quite a bit harder for me.

Luckily I win initiative and I have my LMG on the left attack the damaged MMG with all I can (+2 CAP's)before he can attempt a rally. I score a hit and destroy the MMG removing it from play. On the AI's turn it plays the MARK AS USED Action Card on my LMG on the right. I'll get to the Action Cards just below, but for now all you need to know is that card just took all of the target unit's (my LMG) AP's away leaving it almost impotent. A devastating turn of events as the high rate of fire of both LMG's are badly needed.

My remaining LMG kept its hot streak and was able to attack and kill the enemy unit that was sitting in the Victory Hex with 2 standard attacks while the AI advanced another Rifle Squad towards the action. Considering that it is just a short time before the enemy's reinforcements are upon me I play my Dual Action Card.

Action Cards can be played on your turn as long as you meet any requirement printed on the card. These are usually a minimum amount of CAP's or AP's a side or unit must have to be able to play the card. CAP's or AP's are not used up by playing the card, they're just requirements. Players start the game with 2 Action Cards drawn at random and then each player is given subsequent cards at the beginning of each turn. There is no limit to how many cards a player may play in a Game Turn nor a limit on how many times a unit can benefit from as long as the requirements are met, if any.

For example; If I have a damaged unit with no AP's left on the map, as long as I had the 2 CAP's required I could use my AUTO RALLY card to remove the Hit Counter and then on my next turn play the COMMAND ACTION card to either move, fire, erect a Hasty Defense etc..

Playing my Dual Action card allows my unit to move twice before the enemy gets a chance to. I promptly move twice into the Victory Hex taking control of it. Because I was able to move twice in a row, the Soviet Rifle Squad on the right was not able to fire at me on my way to the Victory Hex.

My next move is into the cover of the Light Woods hex to my front and adjacent to the enemy Rifle Squad. The enemy fires at me with several bonuses including a +1 CAP Roll Bonus (nice to see the AI use them wisely) but rolls only a 2. The enemy squad finds itself in a very bad position.

Firing at an enemy in an adjacent hex is considered Close Range and comes with a +3 Dice Roll modifier. I also spend 2 CAP's to further increase my chance to +5 and a 78% chance of hitting, which I do. A Hit Counter is placed above the unit. The damaged unit must not have enough AP's to Rally because it moves a Rifle Squad closer instead.

I was saving the rest of my CAP's with the intent of moving my leftward LMG four hexes Northeast and into the Woods hex to the front of my unmoved Rifle Squad. That will have to wait until next turn because with my other Rifle Squad so far forward and in a desperate firefight against a damaged unit I choose to press the attack converting 2 CAP's into AP's and move into the same hex as the enemy. I am assuming the enemy unit is so damaged that it will not be able to fire at me after I enter its hex.

Mo Reb, I am salivating at the thought of this game. Looks like my Squad Leader games of great times past.

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"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."- W.T. Sherman

ORIGINAL: ioticus Why did they change the rules from the board game for cards by not requiring an expenditure of APs or CAPs?

That was part of the Persistent APs change, which was done with Uwe's involvement as we all felt it made for a better experience on the computer, where APs could be easily tracked. Based on feedback, we already implemented a non-persistent APs option and plan to implement the full non-persistent APs gameplay in all respects in the future.

I was wrong. It was revealed that the enemy was only Unnerved and he successfully hits me causing my unit to become Foot Pinned. The effects are displayed in my Unit Info Panel showing me that I will need to roll a 7 on a Rally check to be at a normal state again and also that the unit can not move(no value under 'boots' icon). If the result would have been Suppressed instead my unit might have surely been doomed. So I take advantage of my Command Action Card and use it to get a free attack.

Units in Close Combat do not have to worry about facing and can attack irregardless of it and also units do not receive a Flank Attack penalty. Instead, the attacking player gets a +4 bonus. The luck of the German Rifle Squad runs out. Somehow in the heat of the battle they roll a 5 and miss the Soviet Rifle Squad which in turn attacks with the same advantages and destroys my Rifle Squad with a roll of 6. The one better roll of the Soviet Squad coupled with its better Firepower (4 to my 3) was just enough to get a hit. Tough ending for such a brave unit.

My LMG will now try to avenge the death of its friends by spending its last AP and all remaining CAP's to fire at a +2 bonus at the conquering Rifle Squad.

I roll a 7(+4 FP,+2 Roll Bonus =13) to hit the enemy with just enough to eliminate it (12 Defense Rating, +1 Light Woods =13). The Soviet Rifle Squad is removed from play.

I have one unit that has yet to be activated, the Rifle Squad in the Woods. This unit is out of the LoS of all enemy units so it's eligible to HIDE. It cost 7 AP's to Hide a unit. To Hide a unit you press the HIDE button on the bottom of the toolbar. This button, like all the others in this toolbar, are only highlighted if the action is allowed.

For example, the LOAD UNIT button will never be highlighted for this scenario because there are no transports available.

I click the HIDE button and my unit is now Hidden and not an eligible target for the enemy. An icon with a tree above the Hidden unit shows that it is in fact Hidden and another icon will appear in its Unit Info Panel. Hidden units are automatically revealed if they take any action other than Hidden Movement. Units can perform Hidden Movement by paying +3 AP's to enter a hex that provides cover (light woods, woods, buildings etc) and +5 AP's to move Hidden into Clear terrain.

I am out of moves so I will pass repeatedly until the enemy does the same and the turn ends. I could pass my whole turn by pressing the PASS ENTIRE TURN button in the bottom toolbar(looks like a stop sign with an X in it), but I prefer to see how the enemy moves at my own pace.

Game Turn 3 begins with me receiving my Pioneer unit reinforcement. I had a choice of placing the unit in any hex in the reinforcement area so I chose to place it in a hex that was out of any enemy unit's LoS. You can also see that all my units have had their AP's set back to the max amount of 7, that I received the Dual Action card, and that the enemy unit has fanned out for its push. Players may stack their units without suffering a penalty, but any attack against a hex with multiple units affects all units in that hex, including other friendly units. You'll also notice that my CAP's are now lowered to 7 from the loss of my unit.

I spend 5 movement points (+2 Woods, +3 penalty) and have my Rifle Squad perform Hidden Move into the Woods hex to its front. My plan is to keep this unit hidden until just the right time. I also move my right LMG two spaces forward to occupy the Woods hex next to my Hidden unit. I then convert three CAP's to AP's so that my just moved unit will have the 7 AP's needed to make a Hasty Defense. I click the HASTY DEFENSE button (shovel & sandbags icon)highlighted in the bottom toolbar.

Hasty Defense are quickly erected fortifications such as stacked logs, furniture in buildings, shallow foxhole etc. A unit that has performed Hasty Defense gets a +1 defensive bonus in addition to any bonuses the terrain it is in might also add. In our case the LMG would benefit from a +1 Woods bonus and a +1 Hasty Defense bonus making their Defensive Value 14. A counter with an icon of some logs and rocks will appear above the unit to display a Hasty Defense has been erected.

A Hasty Defense stays in effect until the unit that made it Moves, Pivots, or is destroyed. Only one unit may benefit from a single Hasty Defense although several units in the same hex could all erect Hasty Defenses. No more than one Hasty Defense per unit though.

My plan at this point is to blast any units coming out of cover or near enough to the Victory Hex with my LMG's while my Pioneer Squad comes up from behind to cause havoc. As an enemy squad nears the Victory Hex I use my LMG on the left to attack it while using two CAP's to influence the roll.

Great AAR. Looking forward to the continuation. Also, can you shed any light on what type(s) of multiplayer "methods" the game has or is that still under development/NDA?

Actually they have a matchmaker system for lack of better words. Dead tired here so the thinking comes labored. Basically when you choose multiplayer in the Main Menu, you are taken to a Lobby for CoH where you can see the other people online at the time. It has a chat function and also a forum for adding posts. Inside the lobby one can host a game and the other player joins. Handicaps can be set to allow for leveling out player skill resulting in added CAP's to either or both players.

quote:

ORIGINAL: ioticus

Does the AI take advantage of options such as hidden movement and hasty defense?

The AI didn't use either during this firefight.

I next advance my Pioneer Squad towards the enemy and have managed to come within two hexes of a Soviet Rifle Squad while still being out of its LoS. This has left me with an opportunity and I seize it. By playing my second Duel Action card I'll make a double move, this time with my Pioneer Squad, and move adjacent to the enemy's rear flank. This sets up an attack at a great bonus before the enemy can pivot to respond. Should be devastating.

My Pioneer Squad now has an incredible 91% chance of hitting the enemy squad. I roll an 8 which is modified by +7 ( +2 firepower, +2 flank attack, +3 close range) = 15. Since my roll was 4 more than the enemy's Defense Value ( rear defense value =11) the unit is immediately eliminated. Flank attacks can be very deadly so one would do wise to limit their units to them. You'll notice that while the Pioneer Squad has a higher Firepower, its Range is only three hexes. I attack an enemy squad with the Pioneer 5 hexes away (long range -2 penalty) for an 8% chance and miss. With my units out of AP's and CAP's I can only watch as the enemy advances in strength towards the Victory Hex in order to solidify its gains. One enemy squad had been sent to challenge my Pioneer unit, but by the time it gets within Range it is out of AP's and cannot attack. Both me and the AI pass consecutively ending Game Turn 3.

I would like to see some group movement/group actions/fire groups thru the use of sharing APs,Caps and also cards. Winning and losing this game comes down to doing stuff with groups, either thru the use of caps and keeping the units fresh, using cards in groups, and keeping the units fresh, or using APs in firegroups or movement groups and spending them.

A glance at the screenshot above shows the current situation on the map. The battle could go either way at this point and may come down to who can get the best rolls at the right time. So far I have been very lucky with them. Good cards too.

The Russians win initiative and the Soviet Rifle Squad moves one hex closer to my Pioneer Squad's flank. I move my Pioneer Squad one hex to its rear to deny the enemy the cover provided by the Light Woods and also to change my facing towards it.

I would like to see some group movement/group actions/fire groups thru the use of sharing APs,Caps and also cards. Winning and losing this game comes down to doing stuff with groups, either thru the use of caps and keeping the units fresh, using cards in groups, and keeping the units fresh, or using APs in firegroups or movement groups and spending them.

These things would call for a bigger scenario I think. Of course all these can be done ingame. I think I need to be schooled in the firegroup part of the system as I seem to rarely use them although I definitely group move when I can. Really cannot wait to do some more multi player against veterans who know this system inside and out.